British Help to Curb
Money-Laundering

Every contribution to help fight and curb corruption in the government service and the private sector is to be welcomed if we are to make headway towards a corruption-free Namibian society.

So said the Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noa, this week when he and his deputy, Lorraine van der Merwe, received a set of DVDs, The Financial Trilogy, from the British High Commissioner in the capital.

“This donation comes at the appropriate time with the Anti-Corruption Commission in the process of appointing five more investigating officers. We need to build the capacity and skills of our people if we are to continue on our set course of curbing corruption wherever it occurs in the Namibian society,” said Noa during a short handing-over ceremony in his office.

According to Noa, his Commission needs to keep up to date with the latest technology on all fronts to ensure quality service to the Namibian people.
“Presently, the Commission operates with only four investigators, inhibiting the operations to a certain extent. However, thanks to Parliamentary budgetary approval, the Commission will now be in a position to appoint five more investigators to continue with the work in a more determined manner,” he said.

Noa philosophically referred to all corruption cases as equally important to free the society of its wrath.

“No case is too big or too small. These cases are all harmful to the economic survival of the nation. After all, big cases all start small; hence, the importance we attach to every case on its own merit. At the moment, our work is forging ahead in the direction we set out when the Commission was launched early last year. Our experience of corruption in the government service occurs more due to maladministration, whereas the public sector teems with financial thefts, favouritism and employment cases,” he said.

In a short message of support to the Anti-Corruption Commission, the British High Commissioner, Alasdair MacDermott said the DVD set will help the staff of the ACC to learn how to control money-laundering and it will contribute to the country’s anti-corruption campaign.

“This donation underlines the importance the British High Commission attaches to supporting the ACC’s work, fostering links between the ACC and the British Financial Services Authority in working with the Namibian authorities to counter the dangers of money-laundering,” said MacDermott.